My Story:Justice in the Wilderness

by Tommy Thomas

She projected a happy, bubbly public persona while the smile she wore was a sad one.

Clients would often say: it is a standard contract, to which I would respond, “there is no such thing as a standard contract, every contract is different.”

In the public sector, our client was the government of Malaysia, but in reality, it was the people of Malaysia.

It is idle to speculate how many voters cast their ballots for PH in GE14 because of the promises made in this manifesto. Voters have various reasons for choosing a particular candidate, party or coalition. Regardless of the impact of, or weight given, by sections of the electorate to a coalition’s manifesto, it is perilous and foolhardy for leaders of that coalition, after being elected on that document, to downplay its importance. After all, the manifesto was a document prepared by the coalition itself, presumably after much thought and deliberation. It is certainly not good politics to say that the draftsmen did not expect to win; hence, they over-promised, and the coalition elected on it will disregard it completely or substantially. One cannot mock one’s own publication. And yet that was the declared policy of the PH coalition shortly after taking office. It did not bode well when PH leaders, starting with the Prime Minister, repeatedly minimised the importance of its own manifesto. Such a public position damaged the credibility of the government from the outset. It never recovered on this vital issue.

Regulating online forums to ensure a reduction of fake news and hate speech is a laudable objective. The challenge is to balance free speech with abuse.